Dr. Dr. Scott Quimby has published a new and remarkable book. Quimby’s title, Help for a Troubled Time: Examining our Spiritual Resources, might be interpreted to suggest that religion, prayer, and meditation can unify the masses and restore “good will among men”. That doesn’t fit here. Rather, this book is essentially a discussion showing that humans in every culture have been influenced by a broad range of spiritual experiences out of which have developed social and political movements and religions. I think Quimby’s central thesis is that running through them all is a universal message about the fundamental importance of love and compassion in our treatment of one another.

This book is consistently engaging, despite its breadth, spending enough time for the understanding of each topic without going overboard and becoming boring. Its narration takes the reader briefly through thousands of years of human cultures. Relevant mentioned influences include witchcraft, demons and exorcism, mediumship, visions, ghosts, channeling, telepathy, politics, psychoactive drugs, psychic experiences, near death experiences, out-of-body experiences, consciousness, the Seth Material, A Course In Miracles, Jewish mysticism, psi phenomena, and much more.

Quimby's background is rich in knowledge of Native American spirituality and shamanism, and he includes an account of his personal experiences with Lakota Sioux medicine men. A major feature is his thorough discussion of research findings, extending over 100 years, which support the validity of a number of different kinds of spiritual experiences, particularly those relating to the issue of life after death.

In short, the book covers spiritually related things that have shaped mankind’s thinking from early times and created the multifaceted world of today where we have a decline in religion and an increase in spirituality and awareness of reincarnation and metaphysics.

To qualify these statements, these assessments are based in my strong background and interest in spiritual topics. I’m a still-employed electrical engineer in my seventies who has researched paranormal experiences and metaphysics for sixty years, and near death experiences for forty. My conclusions are limited to verifiable facts, and my suppositions are limited to rigorous studies. Dr. Quimby’s reporting meets those criteria and his book is clearly suitable for general research and study. It seems unfortunate that this is his first published book, appearing only now in his early retirement.

Perhaps the strongest recommendation is my NDEr wife’s reaction the day the book was ordered and its content became available. She said something like, ‘Your book is mine now, and I’m not letting you have it until I’m finished.’ From her that means the content is interesting, and Dr. Quimby is a great writer.

Edward A. Riess, BSEE, CNIM, Author of Implications and Applications of the Near Death Experience